As soon as the putt dropped, the young Queenslander became a DP World Tour member, and had proved to the world that he could not only rub shoulders with his heroes, but out-do them when it mattered most.

Smylie had proved that to himself a month earlier however, with his breakthrough win at the Bowra & O’Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open.

Those wins have helped Smylie hold onto a strong lead at the top of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit (OOM), however commanding as it may be, last month’s New Zealand Open champion Ryan Peake can still catch him with two events left.

At 1,356.36 points, Smylie is 372 points clear of Peake in second, but with 190 points on offer to the winner of this week’s Heritage Classic, it’s a long shot for Peake.

A strong showing will secure Smylie’s position atop the OOM, and tick off a season-long ambition.

“It was a goal that I set out last October when I started the season,” Smylie said. “It would be really special to be able to achieve that goal this week at The Heritage.

“To be able to say that you’ve won the Australasian Order of Merit, you are the best player throughout a calendar season, not many people have achieved that.

“I think that accolade that comes with the title is incredible, and then everything that comes with it is awesome as well.”

Having already secured his DP World Tour playing rights by way of his win at Royal Queensland, Smylie’s sights are on the other benefits of topping the OOM, including a spot in this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Smylie pre-qualified for last year’s championship at Royal Troon, and his missed cut only fuelled his determination further to get back to the sport’s oldest major.

“If Royal Troon taught me anything, it’d be that I want to compete against these guys on a week-to-week basis and I want to play against the best players in the world,” he said.

“I love links golf and I want to test myself against the best, so I’m definitely motivated to get back there.”

Smylie finished middle of the pack at last season’s Heritage Classic, and so has been on the ground since Monday working through familiarising himself with the St John’s layout that he only saw for the first time in 2024.

“I’ve seen both sides of the course now. I played nine yesterday, nine this morning,” Smylie said on Tuesday at The Heritage.

“The course is pretty soft, but the greens can actually get quite speedy, so I think just hitting in the right tiers is really important around here.”

As a Golf Australia Rookie Squad member, Smylie has plans to base himself at the Golf Australia house in London for parts of this year, as he looks to take full advantage of his DP World Tour status around the globe.

“I’m going to China in the middle of April in a couple weeks’ time, and then everything kind of kicks off in Europe around late June onwards. That is when I’ll be basing myself in London.”

The Heritage Classic kicks off Thursday, and the final two rounds over the weekend are live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.